We completed Year 2 of our Yarn Club and our theme of this club was our favorite nerdy things! We worked with Apple Tree Knits, who did a wonderful job of creating some wonderful colors. This club was so well received that we decided to continue on with this same theme for Year 3 where we explored 6 new fandoms! Below we are highlighting all the packages which were included in Year 2:
Package #1 – Tangled
We picked this theme because before the Yarnover Truck, Barbra worked at Disney Animation in production management and her first film was Tangled. When the lyricist adding KNITTING in two of the songs she knew she had to ensure her beloved craft was represented correctly. Thankfully everyone agreed and Barbra taught Rapunzel to knit – at least the animators did because they watched her knitting and based Rapunzel’s movements off the way she knits.
Apple Tree Knits created the colorway based on the scene from the film when Rapunzel is knitting and she captured the moment beautifully! The yarn used was the beautiful Glisten Fingering in this beautiful gradient colorway. The fiber mix is 65% superwash merino, 35% rayon from bamboo in a 3-ply yarn that is so lovely to work with! Both of the patterns included in the package really do a great job of showing off this beautiful color!
The knit pattern is Turri by Hilary Smith Callis
The crochet pattern is Wanderin’ Scarf by Laurinda Reddig
And the special gift included was the Gleaner. A patented and award winning fabric shaver and lint brush that safely removes fuzz balls, lint and pet hair from virtually all fabrics. Sort of a brush, like Rapunzel’s, for your knitting!
**We loved this color so much that we have now brought it into our regular stock on the Truck. It is in a different base – Plush Fingering. You can get all the details and buy it HERE.
Package #2 – Buffy The Vampire Slayer
The first package was one of Barbra’s favorite and second package was one of Maridee’s! Buffy The Vampire Slayer is one of Maridee’s all time favorite TV shows. She loves it because it was one of few TV shows to have a strong female lead and she really connected with the character of Buffy. It was well written and showed the trials and tribulations of high school but in a smart and witty way. Plus Maridee’s husband worked on the lighting for the show’s first three seasons!
For this color we sent Apple Tree Knits one of Maridee’s favorite pieces of Buffy Fan art – Buffy Knitting by Karl James Mountford. Liz dyed up a gorgeous variegated yarn based off this picture on SockLove Fingering a smooshy 80% Wool (Bluefaced Leicester) & 20% Nylon. It’s a strong but soft yarn – just like Buffy! And again, we have two wonderful patterns that work up great in this color!
The crochet pattern is Carnival Shawl by Linda Permann
The knit pattern is Sunnydale Cowl by Katy Carroll
For the special gifts we worked hard to find things that themed with this awesome show. A set of darning needles which are our own version of the stakes that Buffy always has with her to battle the vampires. A Buffy Comic book and some tea themed to the show from our friends at Geeky Teas!
Package #3 – Hamilton: An American Musical
The theme of our third package is one that we both love! It is the amazing show Hamilton: An American Musical. Both of us are obsessed with this show, it’s our favorite thing to listen to while driving on long road trips with Debbie (the Truck). Seriously this soundtrack is some of the best driving music!
Coming up with color ideas for this theme was a bit of a challenge but we found a beautiful photo of all the main characters in their costumes and it all fell into place. The beautiful combination of colors inspired Apple Tree Knits to create a stunning gradient yarn. The base is a luxurious Silklin Light Fingering – 65% tussah silk, 35% linen. It feels amazing and works up to be a wonderful drapey fabric and both patterns really show this off!
The knit pattern is Mothwing Shawl by Liz Capik
The crochet pattern is Provincial by Karen Whooley
We kept the theme going with the special gifts and created a colonial looking gauge ruler with our friends at Retromantic Fripperies, inscribed with fabulous quotes from the musical. Since Alexander Hamilton was very involved in the start of our country we felt including a mini US Constitution would be fun. He wrote 51 essays defending the New US Constitution. The final pieces were two beautiful postcards featuring fan art from the amazing Karen Hallion.
**Another color that we loved and just had to add into our regular stock on the Truck. It is in a different base – Plush Fingering . You can get all the details and buy it HERE.
Package #4 – Star Wars
We knew that Star Wars needed to be included as our love of this fandom runs deep for both of us and we are love all the new movies!
We felt strongly that we should use something from the Original Trilogies. We chose one of our favorite moments – the jump to hyperspace in the Millennium Falcon. Apple Tree Knits did an amazing and created a gorgeous variegated yarn in their squishy Plush DK – 100% Merino. It was the perfect yarn for chilly January!
The crochet pattern is Star Speeder Fingerless Driving Gloves by Stitches & Woes‘ designer Micha Boxer
The knit pattern is Jakku Jakku Shawl by Meaghan Schmaltz
The special gift was a product that has been extremely popular on the truck over the past year – Fandom Stitch Marker Bracelets from the The Sexy Knitter. We worked with Sarah and had her create a bracelet with fabulous Star Wars Stitch Markers, both for knitting and crocheting. We hoped that club members would enjoy the bracelet while making their Star Wars inspired patterns!
Package #5 – Firefly
Most geeks in the world still mourn the loss of this amazing TV show. Even though it was only with us a short time, it is one of our favorites and was a must for this yarn club. Joss Whedon’s Firefly is just amazing and we adore it!
So how did we choose our color for this space cowboy show? Well we just had to go with the hat knit by geeks all around the world – the infamous Jayne hat! Apple Tree Knits took this iconic hat and turned it into a stunning gradient yarn that we just love!!! The base for this shipment was Plush Fingering Gradient, a lovely 100% superwash merino in a 2-ply structure that is just a joy to work with.
The knit pattern is My Autumn Flower by Corrina Ferguson
The crochet pattern is Turbulant Wake Shawl by Miriam L. Felton
This package extras included a fabulous Yarnover Truck Journal for you to keep track of your space travel notes or your yarn notes. Plus another wonderful themed tea from our friends at Geeky Teas.
Package #3 – Doctor Who
Our final fandom of the year is another one of our all time favorites – Doctor Who! As devoted Whovians, you have likely seen us wearing themed tee shirts many times if you have visited us on the truck.
Picking a color for Doctor Who was so much fun! Instead of going with the traditional Tardis color, we decided to pick a still from one of our favorite episodes – “New Earth“. This is the first adventure of Rose and the Tenth Doctor – they are just so cute together. Apple Tree Knits created a beautiful variegated yarn that captures this moment so well. The base this month is Luxe Fingering, a gorgeous 51% Silk and 49% Merino blend that is just so dreamy.
The crochet pattern is Sarah Jane by Sara Kay Hartmann
The knit pattern is New Worlds by Afifa
We had a lot of fun picking the extras for this package. While traveling in time and space it’s hard to keep track of things, time can get a little “wibbly-wobbly…timey-wimey”. So to help you keep track of your stitches we included a helpful beaded abacus row counter from The Sexy Knitter. We also included another piece of amazing fan art by the wonderful Karen Hallion! Since we are also HUGE Marvel fans we, of course, chose the Captain America & Tardis version. Maridee has a shirt with this image and wears it often!
If you want to be part of the fun of our yarn clubs you can get all the details about both clubs HERE.